<p>Many old residents of Basavanagudi gathered on the opening day of Kadlekai Parishe on Monday to share childhood memories of visiting the annual groundnut fair.</p>.<p>Kadlekai Parishe celebrates the first groundnut harvest of the year and is marked by a fair on and around Bull Temple Road in Basavanagudi. Though a two-day event originally, it now extends for a week informally.</p>.<p>Not too far from the fair, at The Indian Institute of World Culture, the elderly crowd watched Maya Chandra’s short film ‘Memories of the Kadalekayi Parishe’. In the 10-minute documentary, present and former residents of Basavanagudi recall how Kadlekai Parishe was the most awaited outing for them as children. The interviewees are seniors, one of them 90 years old.</p>.<p>Radha Rao, in her 60s now, would earn pocket money by doing household chores so that she could spend it at the fair. Most children would set out with a rupee or two to buy groundnuts (raw, roasted, or boiled), battaas (hardened sugar candy), tinted spectacles, toy pipes, glass bangles, and Bombay mithai (sugar candy that could be shaped like a watch). A woman interviewed in the film would wear a shirt borrowed from her father or brother so that she could stuff groundnuts into her pockets.</p>.<p>Children rode on the merry-go-round. K R Mohan, a retired banker, looked forward to peeping into the bioscope for a slideshow of landmarks such as the Taj Mahal, and also to see distorted reflections inside the funhouse.</p>.<p><strong>Humans on display</strong></p>.<p>The fair would bring people without hands who could light a fire with their toes, Maya remembers. Others recalled seeing “a girl with a snake-like tail” and a “half-human, half-fish” figure. “An acquaintance said the fair had a caged tiger in the late 1950s,” Radha adds.</p>.<p>Not all memories are rose-tinted. Maya was about five when she got lost at the fair. “The police found me crying and reunited me with my grandfather after making a public announcement,” she recalls.</p>.<p>In the film, Nagarathna says she would carry a safety pin to ward off men trying to get too close. Gayathri Sathyanarayan, who now lives in Banashankari, adds, “So many of us had bad experiences. Girls could not go out by themselves.”</p>.<p><strong>Changing times</strong></p>.<p>In the ’60s and ’70s, groundnut sellers, vendors of knick-knacks, and other amusements would be confined to Bugle Rock Park. Today, the celebration has shifted to the streets. While the seniors are glad that the fair is drawing people from far and wide, some have stopped visiting it because of the crowds. But Mohan, 71, continues to go “out of habit”.</p>.<p>In those days, schools in the area would close early on Monday on account of the chikka parishe (small fair). Radha would run home to drop off her school bag and rush to the Bugle Rock Park to ride on the giant wheel. Tuesday was a holiday to mark the dodda parishe (big fair). Maya says that’s not the case now.</p>.<p>The fair was dominated by groundnut farmers, but today, they are outnumbered by stalls selling pizza, clothes, and mobile earphones. “Earlier, we felt good about going out to encourage farmers,” laments Meera Padi. Also, the custom of farmers giving a free piece of jaggery along with groundnuts has vanished, many say.</p>.<p><strong>Forgotten connection</strong></p><p>After the film screening, Vrinda Parige told Metrolife about her family living in the neighbourhood for six generations. “My grandfather V K Badami was sent by the Mysore government to Cambridge University to do a PhD on groundnut technology sometime in 1919. Google him!” she said, with a smile. Badami was among the first to produce groundnut hybrids, and a pioneer in plant breeding.</p>.<p>Watch the documentary on @MayaFilms on YouTube</p>
<p>Many old residents of Basavanagudi gathered on the opening day of Kadlekai Parishe on Monday to share childhood memories of visiting the annual groundnut fair.</p>.<p>Kadlekai Parishe celebrates the first groundnut harvest of the year and is marked by a fair on and around Bull Temple Road in Basavanagudi. Though a two-day event originally, it now extends for a week informally.</p>.<p>Not too far from the fair, at The Indian Institute of World Culture, the elderly crowd watched Maya Chandra’s short film ‘Memories of the Kadalekayi Parishe’. In the 10-minute documentary, present and former residents of Basavanagudi recall how Kadlekai Parishe was the most awaited outing for them as children. The interviewees are seniors, one of them 90 years old.</p>.<p>Radha Rao, in her 60s now, would earn pocket money by doing household chores so that she could spend it at the fair. Most children would set out with a rupee or two to buy groundnuts (raw, roasted, or boiled), battaas (hardened sugar candy), tinted spectacles, toy pipes, glass bangles, and Bombay mithai (sugar candy that could be shaped like a watch). A woman interviewed in the film would wear a shirt borrowed from her father or brother so that she could stuff groundnuts into her pockets.</p>.<p>Children rode on the merry-go-round. K R Mohan, a retired banker, looked forward to peeping into the bioscope for a slideshow of landmarks such as the Taj Mahal, and also to see distorted reflections inside the funhouse.</p>.<p><strong>Humans on display</strong></p>.<p>The fair would bring people without hands who could light a fire with their toes, Maya remembers. Others recalled seeing “a girl with a snake-like tail” and a “half-human, half-fish” figure. “An acquaintance said the fair had a caged tiger in the late 1950s,” Radha adds.</p>.<p>Not all memories are rose-tinted. Maya was about five when she got lost at the fair. “The police found me crying and reunited me with my grandfather after making a public announcement,” she recalls.</p>.<p>In the film, Nagarathna says she would carry a safety pin to ward off men trying to get too close. Gayathri Sathyanarayan, who now lives in Banashankari, adds, “So many of us had bad experiences. Girls could not go out by themselves.”</p>.<p><strong>Changing times</strong></p>.<p>In the ’60s and ’70s, groundnut sellers, vendors of knick-knacks, and other amusements would be confined to Bugle Rock Park. Today, the celebration has shifted to the streets. While the seniors are glad that the fair is drawing people from far and wide, some have stopped visiting it because of the crowds. But Mohan, 71, continues to go “out of habit”.</p>.<p>In those days, schools in the area would close early on Monday on account of the chikka parishe (small fair). Radha would run home to drop off her school bag and rush to the Bugle Rock Park to ride on the giant wheel. Tuesday was a holiday to mark the dodda parishe (big fair). Maya says that’s not the case now.</p>.<p>The fair was dominated by groundnut farmers, but today, they are outnumbered by stalls selling pizza, clothes, and mobile earphones. “Earlier, we felt good about going out to encourage farmers,” laments Meera Padi. Also, the custom of farmers giving a free piece of jaggery along with groundnuts has vanished, many say.</p>.<p><strong>Forgotten connection</strong></p><p>After the film screening, Vrinda Parige told Metrolife about her family living in the neighbourhood for six generations. “My grandfather V K Badami was sent by the Mysore government to Cambridge University to do a PhD on groundnut technology sometime in 1919. Google him!” she said, with a smile. Badami was among the first to produce groundnut hybrids, and a pioneer in plant breeding.</p>.<p>Watch the documentary on @MayaFilms on YouTube</p>